Introduction to the Arts...

I have lived in the city of San Diego for almost four years (and in the county since 1989). I've always known that there are many cultural opportunities here...I just never had a desire to experience them. But now that we have a little person to mold and shape, I decided to see exactly why they call this "America's Finest City" and take advantage of some of the things this place has to offer (other than the nearly year-round sunshine). The other day I was surfing the internet for a new kid-friendly place to take Kalissa and I came across The New Children's Museum in downtown San Diego. It's touted as a place for toddlers to teens to experience art exhibits and hands-on art projects in a fun, learning environment. That sounded right up my alley! I checked out their calendar and saw that they were having a toddlers-only finger painting session and thought that would be a great first-introduction for us. Kali could paint Daddy a picture for our first upcoming Fathers Day together.

Let me first say that this place did not disappoint! It is BEAUTIFUL!!! Soooo much for the kids to do. We headed straight for the finger painting exhibit since that was only going on for an hour and a half. They had little smocks for the kids and several easels set up. They gave Kali an egg carton filled with bright paint colors and we began our finger painting session. Well,Kalissa was NOT having it. As soon as I dipped her little fingers into the paint, she began to cry! I tried to show her that she was supposed to touch the paper with her painted fingers and that seemed to annoy her even more. The girl had TWO - as in: one, two - fall out fits! I had never seen her behave like that! She threw her head back and fell to the ground. When I tried to pick her up, she really turned up the theatrics and made her body limp so that it would be hard for me to scoop her up. I was mortified. I had seen OTHER children behave this way in public and I always said myself: "hmmph. I would beat that child's butt if that were me!" Well now it was me. What to do? I have an out-of-control 10-month old who is creating a scene in a very posh (albeit kiddy posh) location and all eyes were on us. Sooo....I did like any new-age mom and kindly said to her, "Kalissa...we do not act like this. Stop it now or we are leaving." What do you think that got me? Absolutely nothing! hhahahahahaa! I had to tell myself that we were in a CHILDREN'S museum. I'm sure Kalissa was not the first, nor would she be the last, child to act out in it. I gave her a few minutes to walk around but she truly was not into painting so I hung what she did do to dry and we left to find something else she might be interested in.

We ended up in an outdoors area where they gave the children clay to create little sculptures. How cute and fun! This was really too advanced for Kalissa right now but she had fun beating the clay with the rolling pin--and trying to eat it. There were also two large sculptures that they allowed the kids to paint. Again, it was too advanced for Kali but she loved looking at the beautiful colors.

We found this one room that was a "Barnyard Dance Hall" for the under 2 crowd. It was so cute and LOUD!!! She had a blast dancing to the square dance music and playing with the toddler-height mounted light switches.

Lastly, we visited the wooden horse. It was this huge sculpture in the center of the museum that the kids could climb inside for a bird's-eye view of the place. Kalissa loved being up so high and being able to look at all the happenings from a new vantage point. I thought she would be afraid but that wasn't the case at all.

All in all the museum is a bit too advanced for Kalissa right now. I'll probably wait another six months before visiting again. By then she should be ready to have fun in there and appreciate all the things the museum has to offer. It was still a great way to spend the morning and a great way to expose her to the world of the arts. I hope to find many more ways to stimulate her mind this summer.

It's My Birthday and I'll Brag If I Want To!

Okay, it's not my actual birthday until Sunday but Daddy and I celebrated a little early this year. We gotta strike when we have a baby sitter and Oma was available last night. I know the quality isn't so clear but, notice anything great about the above picture?? *insert bragging here* Check out my mid-section! ...and it's all natural! No hosiery, no girdles, no nuthin! 10 1/2 months ago I looked like this:

And about 2 1/2 months ago, I had a long look in the mirror and said something has to change. Okay, that's a fib. 2 1/2 months ago I knew I was going to have to get into a swimsuit in front of strangers for Kali's swim lessons and I said to myself, something has to change! *lol* So I dusted off the old Wii Fit disc (last year's birthday gift from Daddy) and got to work. Some women might have been offended to receive a workout program as a gift from their husband (in their 8th month of pregnancy no less!) but Al and I are able to be candid with one other. I'm not happy when I'm carrying extra weight and he has told me he doesn't want a fat wife. Blunt, I know! But he also followed that up with he doesn't care if I never lose a pound as long as I'm trying to be healthy. Well until lately, I hadn't been trying at all but the time came where I was ready. Not for fear of losing my husband or any foolishness like that, but I was ready to look my best...and I'm happy to report that I am now 10 POUNDS LIGHTER than I was when I met him! I'll be 37 in a couple of days and I feel like I did when I was 25! And it only took 2 1/2 months using my Wii for 20-25 minutes a day and of course, eating right. About a month ago, I reached a plateau and had to step it up and switch to Wii Active. That program has been kicking my butt ever since....and I love it! I'm not quite finished with it...although I'm happy with the way I look in clothes, there's still much work to be done for that swimsuit!

Along with my renewed body image, I've experienced so many wonderful things in the past year. First and foremost, I'm experiencing motherhood. It takes the cake! I'm unemployed -- my choice but still a first since I was 16 years old!! I married my wonderful husband and we're on a beautiful journey together with one another and with God. What a difference a year makes! I am in a really good place right now. That's something I can say and truly mean it. My life isn't perfect by any means but I'm happy and I am looking forward to all things to come.

Tumbleweed

I keep telling myself that I am not going to be one of those moms who has their child enrolled in every activity under the sun. At the same time, I don't want to overlook the opportunity to develop any natural talents she may have. Kalissa's latest thing seems to be tumbling. I don't know where she got the idea...maybe all babies do this at some point? I wouldn't know because I hadn't been around babies before she came along. What I do know is that neither Al nor I have been rolling around on the ground to teach her this and none of the babies in her playgroup are this far along. Anyway, it's now her favorite thing to do to try to keep herself awake at night! She gets into a headstand position and pushes up with her toes. She hasn't actually tumbled over yet and I'm not sure if I should help her discover that next step. That might be a can of worms we should keep closed for now...at least until she's a year old. But look at that form! She's a natural! Oh Lawd, my baby's gonna be a gymnast! *lol* If that is the case, then I'll graciously take credit for the trait. Not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty fabulous cheerleader back in my day *toot! toot!* hahahaha!

Tiny Bubbles

Whew! It's been a minute since I've posted. Kalissa has me doing the run around all day every day! Last week's playgroup introduced the kids to bubbles. Other than her bubble baths, Kali had never played with bubbles. It took her a minute to warm up to them but once she got used to them popping on her face, she loved them!

Today was the last day that this playgroup meets. There is short 5-week group that starts next week and after that, we have her signed up for swimming lessons twice a week. I'm hoping to find some other activities to keep our summer filled with learning adventures. Kalissa isn't the type of child who likes to just play with her toys at home...she likes to be in the wind and on the go! I'll try to keep up with her as much as I can. :)

Monkey See...Monkey Do!

I just had to write about this story, it was just too funny. Kalissa is totally at the imitation stage. Today, I was giving Daddy a pedicure and Kali started whining because she wanted to hold my buffer. I finally gave it to her just to keep her quiet and what did she do? She took it and started buffing Al's feet with it!! We were cracking up and totally amazed!! If we weren't watching what we said/did around her before, this was certainly a wake-up call that we need to!

Reunited

I survived my first night away from Kali! And guess what? It wasn't really all that bad. I'm sure it helped that I had a great time out with Al. We went downtown for dinner and drinks where I actually stuck to my diet (somewhat) and had some really yummy scallops with sauteed veggies. It's a good thing too because yesterday at the bbq, I didn't even attempt to watch my food intake. When I weighed in this morning I had gained a pound for it. Anyway, we got to our little lambchop around 2:00 yesterday afternoon. Al walked in first and he claims she went right to him, but I didn't see it so I won't believe it to be true. *lol* What I do know is that when I walked in, she didn't come to me! She just looked at me like I was strange. I gave her a few moments to realize it was me and yet she still didn't come to me. I had to get her!! Then she acted like she was going to cry! Oh no!!! This was not what I had envisioned our reunion to be like...she was supposed to grin and run to me with open arms! *lol* That surely didn't happen. Oh well, the important thing was that I was back with my baby and she was happy and safe and all was great. The Woods family all reported that she was a joy to keep. She didn't fuss in church and she did well with her overnight sleep. Naps were a different story. Apparently she didn't take them and when we arrived she was acting like a walking zombie! I assumed her favorite sleeping position (her resting on my chest) and she quickly fell asleep. Ahhhhh....that was the best.

She didn't stay asleep for long. We walked over to the bbq at Jackie & Craig's house (more long-time friends of mine) and she was a social butterfly as usual. She showed off her communication skills and enjoyed all the love and attention she received from everyone. She ate some new foods: apples, pound cake, and even ribs!


By the end of the day she was completely worn out! We got home around 8:00 and I had just enough time to feed her a bottle before she cut up from being so tired. I put her to bed at 8:30 and she slept until 6 this morning. We spent the morning getting readjusted to her home routine. After being spoiled for a day, she tried to have a couple of falling out fits so we had to squash that quickly. Nope, we are not having that, Miss Kalissa!

Hopefully when she wakes up from her afternoon nap, all will be back to normal. Although it was kind of nice to have a night without an infant, it's not something I look forward to yet. Everyone says there will come a day where I will welcome a break, but I suppose I'm just not there yet. We are glad she's back home!!

First Night Away!

Today our little girl is having her first over-night away from home without us! Pamela and Woody are coming to get "their baby" for the night and we're supposed to enjoy it! *lol* Al is arriving back in town (he went to St Louis for a couple of days) in about an hour and they will be here around 3 for the hand off. I haven't even packed anything for her yet. I'm delaying it until the last second. I can't believe I'm letting her go for a whole night! It's not that I'm scared for her safety or anything like that...the Woods are her Godfamily and I've known them and their friends and family since I was 19. So it's definitely not a trust thing or anything like that....it's just that I won't be with my baby! Al thinks it's a good thing and he's taking me out tonight for the occasion so I won't be home twiddling my thumbs and wondering what Kalissa's up to. I know she will be fine...actually she will be better than fine. She's in great hands...but they're just not mine. Okay, okay I need to stop! *lol*

To be continued....

Well...it's about 2:45 and Kalissa left with her Godparents a little while ago. But guess what? I did well! I didn't even cry! I suppose it was because Kali wasn't upset.


She actually looks very happy, right? I'm not worried about her at all but I do already miss her. However, right now I need to get ready for my date with my husband so there's no time to be sitting around feeling sad! Matter of fact, I'll have a glass of shiraz to take the edge off.

Pamela is planning to take her to church in the morning and then they're having a barbeque so we'll drive up for that (and to collect our baby). I'll try not to get there at 10 a.m.! *lol* No, I'll be fine....I just have to keep telling myself that this is a good thing all the way around. Where's that glass of wine????